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crowd out about a specific area of health care reform it's a pharmaceutical
industry
and how they are influencing it
and uh... other parts of the
laws they're forcing whether past the bush administration aromatase no bomb
administration
purses as well as some hamburgers from los angeles times
tumbled into the address
that they're going to be lydia it's great to have you here so
therefore personal industry
is sup
group that braga bomb iran heavily against them
net in his campaign for president
is embrace them now that he's president policy doesn't die
well jake reply you're right that the brock obama like most other uh...
democrat
credit party national candidates
arm of recruitment ran on attacking the pharmaceutical industry
undp
and brock obama's case it serve two purposes on the one hand he could point
to upfront the pharmaceutical industry
on the drug prices the effect they have on overall on the health care
uh... inflation
and compare the prices that americans play with those overseas and secondly he
could point to another of his favorite topic during this campaign which was
the role of lobbyist in washington and there's been four
i think the last couple of decades time let me know
restore no lobby stronger than the pharmaceutical industry
and so it was during the campaign the bronco bombers you know that the the
drug companies were
were on frequent uh... sort of which whipping boy in his campaign speeches
he's in a second yet
while he was doing that do you know how much money he collected from those
pharmaceutical companies at the same time
prepared said very good question and i can get the answer for you in a second
but i can tell you that it was they uh...
prodigious amout
um... he specifically of course we advertise that he was not accepting
money from lobbyists
but not a lobbyist amanpour employees of the drug companies were substantial
contributors dictated to his campaign fund as they were two other major kicks
you're looking at that interest
they don't know if you had no lessons but i thought so i don't forget was in
your articles on world then he collected about eighty million dollars from the
health care industry no i think was an over man's
rent last night that i heard that eyes deals that's true this is a uh... ah if
i can only remember for you in the second in the none
compelled and pics
psychologically looking at now
that figure is about right forward the amount that was contributed
uh... the
the over overall so it strikes me as a little bit hard but we can check that my
second then i'll get if you want to ask another question i'll get the answer and
you
now since then
the ran against them
and he has is that you would think that he would then act against them when he's
president but will force we know with offices a sardar predicts yesterday so
you would think that he would embrace seventy s how does he embraced it
well-acted
one of the things that we've had the scene in the inner concerts the
beginning of the health care reform negotiations post-election is that the
pharmaceutical industry has had
what billy tauzin the chief lobbyist in washington describes as the seat at the
table
and in part that was because him the pharmaceutical industry decided to add
to make its own affirmative effort to reach out to the democrats into the
obama white house and sort of offer a friendly hand of the cause of reform
that's part of it and i think the other party is that this administration having
studied what cost bill clinton
bill and hillary clinton health care reform uk
in nineteen ninety-four have decided they really need to date you were there
p
the biggest players on the in both lobbying and campaign finance our inside
the reform camp not outside
and so there's been a sort of uh... mutual embrace life
that is what i call it
uh... i and am i think you've seen both the uh... the pharmaceutical industry
reach out to hand and the white house graphs that eureka deals
more than tom hammer for more sale signs he wrote about the states have a while
you spoke with drug lobbyists either the health care table will put up a link to
that article on the other perks that come of course you know
early times i promise we'll so
how has it specifically is how many meetings of that
had what deal has he given them
uh... and as well we'll get later into an ideal makes us haha
bir there have been really confirm the editor group b uh... election it even
going back to
the transition period
on probably dozens of lobbyist with representatives that that industry it
was somewhat ironic that billy townsend who is the former louisiana congressman
who acts as chief lobbyist for the industries association which is called
farm are
in washington
he had arm at least by day the the account of records that have been made
public since inauguration
six meetings inside the inside the white house inside the undp executive offices
of the president
what somewhat surprising about that is that during the campaign
then senator obama specifically targeted to house and as an example of the kind
of washington influence peddler
on the who was cutting deals that benefited the industry but not the
american public
but he has been inside the white house
and the deal that he described and we do it we had an interview with him ma on
which
within is part of today's story
and he described working with on both senator baucus in the senate
and top white house officials to work out a specific agreement that went on
the one hand require
the pharmaceutical industry to commit to about eighty billion dollars in savings
that could be scored by the congressional budget office savings that
could be registered over ten years to help pay for reform
in exchange
cows in has told us ten and and others have kept confirmed or our city at least
not denied
um... is that there was an agreement unto specific things that
the pharmaceutical industry was concerned about
one was that there shall not be that there will not be 'em
on specific or explicit legislative permission for the medicare drug program
to negotiate prices with the pharmaceutical industry this is
something
that the drug companies who have long feared
they don't like it they see the tantamount to price setting
and what judge helen says explicitly is that there was such a deal 'em secondly
he said in a separate discussion with the white house
he secured an agreement that the white house would not pursue
ahm another of obama's campaign pledges which was
import to allow the importation of
pharmaceuticals from
europe in canada
if you know those so hurt because at the uh... our government price
policies in those him in foreign countries
the prices are lower
importation would lower prices in the united states but threaten permissive co
industry prophet
that's a good deal first when i hear that with the government doesn't get
doesn't get to negotiate with these companies
that drives me crazy
at and when i hear they claim a video of eighty billion dollars for immediately
think
that not negotiation plus the
non importation of drugs from canada
must get them more than eighty billion dollars otherwise it would make a deal
on the other hand i'm not even sure that i trust that they're going to do that
eighty billion dollars in savings but there is additional element to a tour
which is a date
that they're going to help will bomb oppressed
health-reform again i'm skeptical about that
but when you look at those i mean ait that give-and-take of that deal
what do you think that the dole bomb alert
strike a fair deal here
era or t_v_ maybe got rocked what your thoughts
his the way that i look at it in part through the instruction of some of my
other boat
friend of mine and i sort of mine who crew who study the history of major arm
social reforms
and that is the the most important thing to understand it is that i'll bomb uk
got a deal at least a preliminary deal which brought the pharmaceutical
industry
ahm on the inside the tent advertisement
uh... and supplying millie the dog and advertising in support of the concept of
reform instead of what happened in nineteen ninety three in nineteen ninety
four
spending that same him sons
against reform
part of the calculation is
if we can keep
that this is the white house calculation if you can keep major powerful interests
on your side
or at least keep those that opposed though the health reform initiatives in
the path of least keep them split and some of them on your side
that you have a chance of passing a national health reform legislation admit
doing that even if the anusha legislation is in perfect
it's such a significant victory
that poem
it allows you to move forward and overtime if necessary
correct for on mistakes that were made or promises that
that that did not on benefit the public generally or size however from the los
angeles eyes wrote about this today tom still lasts
dissolve on the basically pledge for the next four years not negotiate those
prices
and how much can we really trust the healthcare industry the really give us
eighty billion dollars in savings
jaco griffin delicate questioned and the person any became a very important is
that
well i thought the white house generally confirmed
the that there were discussions about that second part of the agreement that
is that the obama white house would not pursue it leads for the finding the idea
of importing from canada or europe
daily declined to comment on whether there was a deal on price negotiations
so exactly what the outline of exactly what this agreement is
we don't know
and exactly what this
undp
the terms are we don't know if if we have on billy talent account and it
doesn't appear to be anything in writing
i can tell you would look at that the way that i look at it is that it's an
informal one kind of early deal designed to keep on the farm are on this side of
reform
and that on one of the things that house instead he understand this is a poor
would process
while the legislative language that they'd like to book on importation and
none u_n_ and they and continued rule against negotiation of prices
he is inside the current senate package
it is not in the house bill and if the house bill should become dominica switch
should triumph or not
in conference
unm worked odd counsel in the pharmaceutical industry standards we
reserve the right to pull out of this agreement and to oppose this so it's all
very fluid and it's important to
amplify that nonetheless
the overall point he started with israel israel which is that despite the
rhetoric of the campaign
the obama administration has embraced the pharmaceutical industry brought them
inside and cut uh... ideal to at least keep 'em on the inside in supporting
reform
so far
tom out this form of the largest lobbying group basically in the whole
country and how much the
money they spend
one
it is the and has been purview forward and the last couple of decades
the largest as lobbying group
in the in in the u_s_ i'm number one on the charts that are at the list that are
are from collected by a bunch of uh... sir watchdog organization values the
center for responsive politics
with the issue today
spanish-english com un
in in two thousand aid the industry was number one on the list this is for
memory but for extending eighty million dollars on
reportedly online request on the lobbying expenses
in washington that flooding the executive and legislative branches
ministry articles as well as for muslims
sexy eight million dollar resilient
justin four more months so inform on they have all more you know they are
aware of what it that eighty percent or more along the way to reaching the total
of all the pics pen in two thousand a please error
prodigious um... standards and if you look at
one of the other thing to be interesting and we we didn't get into it in today
the article but on behalf of hope we can return to
armadillos it's also interesting to look at the list of those work were being
hired
and which you find is
on the list of nap increasingly prominent democrats those who were
either tied to the campaign or tied to the clinton administration and those who
have influence with an obama white house
yeltsin former dallas is a lot of money but yet
talking about here whether they're going to get savory or or their companies in
their industry rosanna cost billions of dollars exactly so it's easy for
millions actually patents but first this informally that goes a long way in
congress even by
ackerson senators in times of india bought real cheap
you know mike ross what would be getting out around twenty nine thousand also the
healthcare industry and he is doing they're betting on the public option
rats nothing yesen impart the alligator cake one of the other ways in which you
want to take a bit who put the money
from is not
only limited to those tens of thousands of dollars in direction campaign
donations to candidates pond
but also in the issue advertising in which it in in which you really are
limited to understand it's very hard for us to calculate cast
farmer what they are spending you know they've got a new version of the harry
and louise ad
that they're doing with the a m
families u_s_a_ organization promoting the idea of reform this time and
although the overall that they would tell me is that it's a multimillion
dollar ad campaign but i think you can count on it being tens of millions
and up another
on the advantage that the white house as it now has a private here a private
sector it
industry
willing to stand and a million basically on behalf of the gohil finally
tallahassee are the media's role in this perhaps as i say
he articles about summer for new year's obviously but islet
varied associated press i read all the different you know newspapers
of the quota vation of the politicians question nearly enough in obviously
you're doing so here at work universal bomber but at so many times as
see the blue dog democrat spin call conservative or moderate democrats
when in reality there
biting or the public option for example they're actually costing
more money add to the budget an adding to the deficit they're actually
corporate staff dot democrats everyone salt
uh... i
it is doing a poor job of covering the real motivations of these politicians
black i'm not a uh... akan another media critic i i think and feel like i'm a
victim of a public happened to the economics of newspapers
but prom i completely peter pointed very well taken with his um...
in is particularly interesting now that this town is domino's is that you have
democrats dominantly theater into branches of government executive and
legislative branch
and one of the choice 'cause that's all we've made as to what extent osm only
democrats put out arm
the welcome mat to corporate interest
p
the choice seems to me in the obama white house and promote the women would
just talk about this that it's a good idea decided it's a good idea to bring
in those interest because they can kill yet they're not on your side
on the other hand it's may be worth noting that until two thousand five that
you know until two thousand
the cycle
the pharmaceutical industry gave overwhelmingly the republicans and
during the two thousand during the bush presidency dated the figures were like
seventy seventy five percent to republican
suddenly they become allies of the democratic party i wonder why
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